IndyCar: Hearing scheduled for turbo issue

A hearing has been scheduled for Thursday by thIZOD IndyCar Series following the protest filed by Chevrolet over the decision to allow Honda to make a change to its turbocharger ahead of this weekend's race in Sao Paulo.

A three-person panel made up of a representative selected by Honda, a representative selected by General Motors, and a representative mutually agreed on by both manufacturers.

Photo: IndyCar

The protest came after Honda, which is the only manufacturer to use a single-turbo layout, was granted permission to introduce a new compressor cover in accordance with a verbal promise made by the series some time ago to ensure parity between single and twin-turbo configurations.

Chevrolet's complaint is grounded in the fact that the promise of parity was never enshrined within the technical regulations and that the date for the engine homologation was prior to the start of the 2012 season.

Let's get a bit technical. The turbochargers are supplied by Borg Warner, as announced last May at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and have specific A/R compressor covers for road/street courses and for ovals.

The Borg Warner-supplied compressor cover for the single turbocharger that Honda intended to use was a 0.74, whereas the permitted A/R sizes for the Borg Warner EFR9180 single turbocharger is either 1.04 or 1.45.